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Women socially throughout the 1800s
Changes in the 1920s from women
During the time period of the “flappers,” premartial
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Some viewed them as immoral and immature, but others welcomed the change. Between clothing, hairstyles, social roles, and behavior, the women of the 1920s knew how to have fun: but where should the line have been drawn? For hundreds of years, women were expected to be covered from neck to wrist to toe. Until the Roaring Twenties, no self-respecting woman would dare break from her corset, dress, and stockings. Then, almost instantly, all kinds of women seemed to forget the past and dressed to express themselves. Each change in women's fashion prepared the world for the imminence of a shift in gender roles. In the years leading up to the Roaring 20s, women's societal roles were only slightly changing, and their fashions and behavior remained …show more content…
They evolved from their proper lifestyle to one that caused controversy all over the world. The Gibson Girl fashions did not accommodate nightlife activities and social lifestyle, so corsets were abandoned, sleeves were taken off, and hemlines were raised. Women who adopted risky fashion choices and social lives were called "flappers." Long, beaded necklaces, low cut necklines, shapeless dresses, heavy makeup, and frilly accessories were typical attributes of flappers. Flappers' behavior was frowned upon by many because women were becoming openly "sexual," offending people of the public. However, Zelda Fitzgerald, a flapper herself, shared her perspective on the matter in "Eulogy on the Flapper" (1922): "...she covered her face with powder and paint because she didn’t need it and she refused to be bored chiefly because she wasn’t boring. She was conscious that the things she did were the things she had always wanted to do." Fitzgerald and other iconic women of the 1920s justified their new lifestyles by declaring their freedom to expression. Neuwirth, in her article, "Controversies of the Flapper," discusses an issue of Harper’s Magazine from 1927, which says that "a flapper knows that it is her American, her twentieth-century birthright to emerge from a creature of instinct to a fully fledged individual who is capable of molding her own life. And in this respect she holds that she is becoming man’s equal." Churches and politicians, on the other hand, were not ready to embrace the superfluous fashions, attempting to place bans on certain types of clothing and behavior. In 1920, a church in New Orleans sent a bride home to change into "modest bridal wear" (Lee). Laws were pending approval in over a dozen states including Utah, Virginia, New Jersey, South Carolina, Kansas, Iowa, and Pennsylvania; however, most lawmakers had different ideas of
From coast to coast people were reading the exploits of a new type of woman called flapper. Prior to World War 1 Victorian ideals still dictated the behavior of American women and girls. Frederick Lewis Allen describes the traditional role of women. Women were the guardians of morality. They were made of finer stuff than men. They were expected to act accordingly. Young girls must look forward in innocence to a romantic love match which would lead them to the altar and to living happily ever after. Until the right man came along they must allow no male to kiss them. Flappers did the opposite. Flappers danced the Charleston, kissed their boyfriends while they played golf and sat behind the wheels of fast cars. The liberated usually young female disdained the traditions of her mother and grandmother before her. Flappers would smoke and drink alcohol, she cut her hair and wore short dresses. They also changed their views on courtship rituals, marriage, and child rearing. With these they could have the same freedom as men could. The time period also saw a highly physical change in women’s lives like how they dressed and looked. For the first time in American history women could choose to be free from long hair and voluminous clothing. Before the women changed they wore very restrictive clothing consisting of long skirts with layers of petticoats over tightly laced corsets that produced an hourglass figure with wide hips and a narrow waist.
Their style was introduced in the early 1910s but did not spark until the 1920s. The style was said to be more comfortable, but was not appealing to the more conservative. Before the change of style, most women were dressed modestly; however, women's fashion in the 1920s showcased a more “boyish” and comfortable, look which led to huge controversy and affects how women dress today. Although to society now, these changes may not be seen as a big deal, back then it would split society.
In the 1920's women's roles were soon starting to change. After World War One it was called the "Jazz Age", known for new music and dancing styles. It was also known as the "Golden Twenties" or "Roaring Twenties" and everyone seemed to have money. Both single and married women we earning higher- paying jobs. Women were much more than just staying home with their kids and doing house work. They become independent both financially and literally. Women also earned the right to vote in 1920 after the Nineteenth Amendment was adopted. They worked hard for the same or greater equality as men and while all this was going on they also brought out a new style known as the flapper. All this brought them much much closer to their goal.
Women of the 1920's Women during the 1920's lifestyle, fashion, and morals were very different than women before the 1920's. Flappers became the new big thing after the 19th amendment was passed. Women's morals were loosened, clothing and haircuts got shorter, and fashion had a huge role in these young women. Women before the 1920's were very different from the women of the Roarin' 20's. Gwen Hoerr Jordan stated that the ladies before the 1920's wore dresses that covered up most of their skin, had pinned up long hair, were very modest, had chaperones and had men make all of their decisions (1).
The 1920’s was an era of dramatic political and cultural change, where many Americans lived in cities rather than farms. Many inventors came to be noticed as new cars were invented and as music entered the entertainment industry. A new style of music was invented mainly in the African American community, creating the Harlem Renaissance; which was an evolution of music and entertainment in Harlem, New York City. The women of America began to evolve in the 1920s, adding new styles to our fashion industry and changing the way women dress, act, and are portrayed in society for generations. Women were viewed before the 1920’s as innocent housewives, who made little to no money, as they often relied on their husbands’ income.
Fashion of the 1920’s was also known as the roaring 20’s. Fashion in the 1920’s became more relaxed in the 20’s. In the early 1920’s the normal fashion was dropped waistlines, long, cylindrical skirts, 7” to 10” below the knee. Women finally received the right to vote, with this new right women also
The Roaring Twenties, with all of its abundance and new freedoms, can certainly be described as a break from tradition of every sort. Womanhood was being redefined, music was undergoing a jazzy revolution, and new inventions were transforming day to day life. This break from tradition represented the ideals of the 1920s, but the grave experiences such as the “red scare” and the disillusioned culture also played a huge role in this era.
The term feminist is seen with a negative connotation because people use it as an insult against women in an effort to make them seem irrational and unfair, but in reality it is the exact opposite of that. Feminism is defined as the “belief in or advocacy of women’s social, political, and economic rights, especially with regard to equality of the sexes.” (Feminism). There is no reason that there should be a negative connotation to this belief or participation in advancing this belief, yet there is. This battle and struggle for equal rights has been going on for a very long time, but it really took off in the 1920s. The 19th amendment and The New Woman really helps to show how quickly women and their rights progressed in the United States. Many
Feminism has growth over the decades, first they explain who they are fought for us (women), now they are fighting for themselves.
Although the feminists of the 1920s did not significantly improve their economic status, they were able to boost their political status by passing the 19th Amendment for women’s suffrage. Before they could vote, women had very strict roles in society. Many people during the 1920s believed that when a woman spoke in public, she was “ignoring [her] biological weaknesses,” such as a smaller brain and more fragile physique (Krolokke 5). The argument continued, stating that these women were also harming their reproductive abilities (Krolokke 5). Suffragists first broke these stereotypes by engaging in public persuasion, which was deemed “unwomanly” by the people of the era (Krolokke 5). After that, they slowly earned the right to “indirect[ly] influence, [but] certainly not engage in, public activities” (Krolokke 5). Even as the suffragists tried to achieve the right to vote, they had to work within these stigmas. The popular opinion stated that women had a “natural disposition toward maternity and domesticity” (Krolokke 5). Therefore, suffragists argued that female voters would enrich politics with their maternal characteristics (Krolokke 5). After years of protest, the 19th Amendment was officially ratified in 1920. Men and women finally had equal voting rights. While this piece of legislation was a significant advancement for the first-wave women, they still faced major obstacles in society. Female voters were harassed. In Indianola, Mississippi, Irene Magruder’s house was set on fire after it was used as an office for voter registration workers (Collins 432). When the firemen arrived, they turned their hoses off and watched as the house and everything Magruder owned burned down (Collins 432). Another woman, Fannie Lou Hamer, face...
In the early 1900’s the ideal woman would be dressed with long dresses and would normally have long hair. Several events such as World War I, in July of 1914, changed women’s role in society. They were not only taking care of the children and the household but they were also taking the role of a man. As men went to war, women replaced them in factories. This caused woman to be more independent. Women realized that having a job was something that could be done; their sex didn’t restrict them from taking this action. This was extremely important as it lead to women being more confident and capable. In the 1920s young women began to change. They went from having long dresses and long hair, to a short haircut and wearing dresses that were above the knee. Women developed a greater interest in looking attractive. According to Russell L. Johnson, the beauty industry grew rapidly as cosmetic expenses sky rocketed from 750 million to 2 billion dollars (Johnson 3). This was one of the causes of the sexual revolution. Women became “ less formal but more expressive (Mag...
As we look around at our women in today’s era, we might ask how did she become so independent, successful, and confidant? Even when I look at my own my mom, she was hired as the first woman to work as a manager at a fortune 500 business, and then created her own business. As well as my friends’ mom, who also has her own business in psychology; accomplishments like these must have originated from somewhere. The answer lies in the 1920’s. A couple years earlier, World War I was waging havoc, killing many men, while allowing women more freedom. The effects of World War I gave birth to the new women, also known as the Flappers, and inspiration for the 19th amendment. The flappers stirred up traditions and launched a new way of living. It soon became very apparent that the new women of the 1920’s helped redefine the social norms of society.
Time flew by and as the war ended in 1918, the 1920’s decade of change soon approached. The year was famously known as “The Jazz Age” and “The Roaring 20’s” because of the newly found freedom, social and political changes, and the time of prohibition. Among these powerful new changes was the freedom that women were finally able to vote and enjoy what was about to come. Instead of being confined at home, the women joined labor forces, worked with wages, and experimented with different types of behavior that would have been unreasonable a few years back. Along with these dramatic changes were their fashion styles. This style changed their rights and relationships with others completely. With that change, a new woman was born. There were not many ways for women to stand up for themselves and what they believed in. They had no voice but in the 1920’s, women found a way of freely expressing themselves and changing their relationships with others all with the start of fashion.
Women roles have changed drastically in the last 50 to 80 years, women no longer have to completely conform to society’s gender roles and now enjoy the idea of being individuals. Along with the evolution of women roles in society, women presence and acceptance have drastically grown in modern literature. In early literature it was common to see women roles as simply caretakers, wives or as background; women roles and ideas were nearly non-existent and was rather seen than heard. The belief that women were more involved in the raising of children and taking care of the household was a great theme in many early literatures; women did not get much credit for being apart of the frontier and expansion of many of the nations success until much later.
“Women’s roles were constantly changing and have not stopped still to this day.” In the early 1900s many people expected women to be stay at home moms and let the husbands support them. But this all changes in the 1920s, women got the right to vote and began working from the result of work they have done in the war. Altogether in the 1920s women's roles have changed drastically.